Kentucky Attorney General Takes Spencerian College To Woodshed Over Phony Job Placement Claims

James Marshall Crotty
, ContributorI cover education as a sector and as the bedrock of all sectors.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

At a press conference in Frankfort, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway discusses allegations that Spencerian College misrepresented job placement numbers to consumers. (Image Credit: Office of the Kentucky Attorney General )

According to documents obtained by Crotty on Education, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway announced today that his office has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Spencerian College -- which is owned by Sullivan University, Inc. -- over allegations that the for-profit school misrepresented job placement numbers to consumers. This marks the fourth lawsuit that Conway has filed as part of his ongoing investigation of the for-profit college industry. Spencerian College operates two campuses in Kentucky – one in Lexington and one in Louisville.

The complaint, filed in Jefferson Circuit Court, alleges that Spencerian violated the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act by making "unfair, false, misleading and deceptive" statements in its publications and on its website regarding the rate at which its students were able to obtain employment in their field of study.

“Spencerian College provided students with information that it knew was false. The numbers substantially contradict data that it provided to its accreditors,” Conway said in a press release provided by the Kentucky Attorney General's office. “I believe Spencerian College was more concerned about signing students up for classes and getting its hands on student loan money than educating students and placing them in jobs. The bottom line is they preyed on people who were trying to build better lives for their families in these tough economic times.”

The Attorney General’s complaint details that since at least 2007, Spencerian reported placement rates to students via its website and by way of a published “interview book.” Spencerian represented that the published placement rates, which in some cases were 100 percent, were the same placement rates it reported to its accreditor, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, or ACICS. However, the rates were significantly different, according to Conway, sometimes with a differential of up to 40 percent. After Spencerian received a civil investigative demand from the Office of the Attorney General, it removed the conflicting graduation placement rates from its website.

According to the Attorney General's release, the tables below outline the discrepancies uncovered during the Attorney General’s investigation.